Modder’s Column, formerly known as Modder’s Monday, is a column dedicated to rooting, hacking, and other forms of modifying Android and is written by Jaroslav Stekl, a man who spends his days coding, hacking, hiking, and of course, writing for Android Police.

Unfortunately, Google doesn't allow developers to modify the default battery icon within a regular app, so a more substantial change was required. And guess what? jercik, a Senior Member of XDA-developers, has stepped up to the plate by developing a mod that not only places the battery percentage right within the default battery icon, but also pretties up several other status bar icons, such as the synchronization icon and the download icon. Let's dig in.

Getting It All Set Up

Since a lot of people seem to be having problems with this, we highly recommend you do a Nandroid backup first so that you have a recovery image to restore to later if something goes wrong.

Before we get started, it's important to note that this mod is currently supported on only two devices: the HTC EVO 4G and the HTC Desire. If you're on an EVO and you're using a ROM based off of HTC's Sense UI, you'll need to download Smooth-Sense. Likewise, if you're running CyanogenMod, download Smooth-REVOlution. After you've downloaded the file that's right for you, place it on the root (or the main folder) of your SD card and flash it like you would do for a regular ROM.

If you're on a Desire, you may find yourself in a slightly different scenario - rather than flashing it over any ROM you like, you'll need to already be on one of the following ROMs:

Once you've downloaded the version appropriate to your ROM, proceed as EVO users should - just flash it like any other ROM.

What It Does

Although there is a version of the mod for the EVO that doesn't do anything other than display the battery percentage within the default battery icon, most other versions change up your status bar quite a bit:

To clarify, here's what's been changed:

the battery icon (default: modified: )

the battery charging icon (default: modified: )

the synchronization icon (default: modified: )

the GPS icon (default: modified: )

the download icon (default: modified: )

the upload icon (default: modified: )

the USB Debugging icon (default: modified: )

the no SIM card icon (default: modified: )

the notify SD card icon (default: modified: )

Personally, I find most of the modifications appealing, though your mileage may differ, obviously.

You can also download a version of the mod with a white sync icon as well as a version of the battery-only mod that has a "wrong icon" (who knows what that means). If you go with Smooth-REVOlution, you can also download a version of the mod without battery percentage.

The Underlying Message

The point of this mod is simple: we need better status bar icons. Maybe they'll come with Gingerbread, but in the meantime, I wouldn't think twice about flashing this mod.